Packing up the car for your summer holidays? Here’s the Monocle guide to sunny road trips

The Monocle Daily navigates the start of August with a blend of travel advice and current affairs analysis. Italian highway cafes, known as Autogrill, serve as cultural touchstones rather than mere utilitarian stops, offering high-quality local produce and coffee. Road trips with children require strategic planning, emphasizing the avoidance of screens to prevent motion sickness and the use of curated soundtracks to maintain engagement. Musical selections for long drives range from Brazilian grooves to country tracks, each aiming to define the journey's mood. The weekly news recap examines the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham, highlighting the performative nature of political eulogies, and addresses the historical parallels between current Anglo-French naval tensions and the 18th-century War of Jenkins' Ear. These discussions underscore the intersection of cultural nostalgia, political theater, and the practicalities of summer travel.